Capill sentenced to nine years in jail

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Former
Christian Heritage Party leader Graham Capill has been sentenced to
nine years in jail for sexual offences against young
girls.

Security
at the Christchurch District Court was tight for Capill, who was
punched outside the court house following a previous
appearance.

In April
the 46-year-old admitted indecently assaulting a young girl and
last month he pleaded guilty to five new charges, including rape.
The offending involved three girls under 12 years old.

The
offences occurred between 1990 and 1999.

In court
Capill's Lawyer said he had genuine remorse for his acts, but the
judge condemned what he called Capill's depravity.

Judge
Robert Kerr acknowledged Capill's early guilty pleas, but also said
the number of offences and the period of more than 10 years over
which they occurred were major factors.

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"Your
actions were cruel and would be condemned by all right thinking
members of the New Zealand community. Publicly though, through your
political party, you were the epitome of virtue - that promotion
concealing your ugly and sexually corrupt behaviour," Kerr
said.

An email
Capill sent on June 27, the day before he admitted the last
charges, was also spoken about in court.

In the
email Capill tried to minimise his offending by saying he had not
gone the whole way and he implied that there was a degree of
consent. Both the judge and the Crown prosecutor called the email
nonsense and said it would count against him.

Capill's
lawyer agreed that the email had backfired and said it probably
shouldn't have been sent. Jonathon Eaton also said that after
looking at the victim impact report on Wednesday Capill got an
understanding of how serious his offending was and he would be
undergoing treatment when he went to jail.

For 13
years Capill fronted the morally conservative Christian Heritage
Party and had most recently been working as a police prosecutor,
presenting cases in the Christchurch District Court.

Following
the sentencing Capill issued his first statement since his
offending was made public. It said: "I am ashamed and greatly
regret my past actions... I know many people look to me as a
campaigner for moral values. I recognise the utter hypocrisy
between what I said in public and did privately. I apologise
unreservedly to the people of New Zealand for that. What I said
publicly is what I believed and still do. I pray that God will have
mercy on me and forgive me. I also pray for healing and God's help
and love to surround my family who I have hurt and let down so
badly."